Sassy Savannah: Welcome to Savannah!

Gorgeous fountain at the Savannah airport

Welcome to Savannah, Georgia, the famous state known for their peaches. Haaa!! Not really true, as we found out. Actually, South Carolina grows more peaches than Georgia. And Georgia grows more blueberries than any other state in the U.S. Georgia should be called the "blueberry state", not the Peach State!

We landed at the Savannah airport, and noted that even the airport is pretty, adorned with gardens and fountains! Our flights were all fine, and the weather here is ideal with temps in the 70’s—perfect for wandering this charming city.

Live oaks covered with Spanish moss

On our first full day, we took the hop on hop off trolley bus (the HoHo) for an introduction to the historic district. Savannah has a unique layout with twenty-two squares, each one filled with big, old live oak trees covered with Spanish moss. Unlike our oaks at home, these live oaks are evergreens and never lose their leaves. Surprisingly, the Spanish moss is not a harmful parasite but a helpful plant that removes pollution from the air.

At the fountain in Lafayette Square

Each square is named for a famous person, and Anne was thrilled to discover Lafayette Square named, of course, for her favorite Frenchman who visited here on his return to the U.S. in 1825. A passerby must have seen how excited she was and kindly took this pic of the two of us in front of Lafayette’s fountain.

Mercer-Williams House

The Mercer-Williams House is Savannah’s most infamous residence because of an alleged murder that inspired the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which Anne is happily rereading. The quirky characters make the book and the movie a lot of fun, and as we are discovering, Savannah really is a quirky place (which is just right for us).

Savannah's pastel-colored houses

Our trolley drove past a street of pretty pastel houses, and our bus guide explained that the houses were painted different colors so drunken husbands could find their way back home. Savannahians really love their liquor, and people walk around with drinks in plastic to-go cups, which is perfectly legal down here. Crazy!

A character in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil says you can tell a lot about a place by the first question locals ask a visitor. In Atlanta, they ask, “What business are you in?” In Macon, “What church do you go to?” But in Savannah, the first question is, “What would you like to drink?”

Generous family-style meal
at Mrs. Wilkes

We left the HoHo to eat lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House, an iconic Savannah restaurant with family-style dining. We were seated at a large table with group-sized plates of fried chicken and meatloaf, plus about a dozen bowls of side dishes. Our favorite side was collard greens, which we had never eaten before. We enjoyed the experience, but with a long wait to get in, we thought Mrs. Wilkes was a bit of a tourist trap.

Drinking at Wet Willie's

We ended our first day with a light dinner at Wet Willies, a restaurant known for their large selection of to-go cups. (Unlike most patrons, we drank inside.)

More pics of this lovely city: